The new iPhone 4S features a redesigned antenna design that allows for better reception and faster wireless data speeds, a tweak that should further distance Apple from the "antennagate" controversy that occurred around the launch of the iPhone 4.

Leading up to Friday's launch of the iPhone 4S, AppleInsider will offer a closer look at some of the features of the next-generation handset. Given that the 'S' in the device's moniker was never officially defined by Apple, we offer five potential definitions. Today: 'S' is for Signal, with a newly redesigned antenna.

'Antennagate:' A brief history

Soon after the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, it was discovered that covering the bottom left of the phone, where two separate antennas meet, could reduce cellular reception with the device. In low-signal situations, this could result in a dropped call.

The ensuing media firestorm prompted Apple to uncharacteristically hold a special press conference last July, where the company announced it would give away free cases to iPhone 4 customers for a limited time.

The controversy stemmed from the fact that the iPhone 4 has a unique design where the metal edges of the device also serve as its antenna. Any reception issues could be resolved by adding a case to the phone, which prevented users' skin from touching the antenna and causing signal attenuation.

Apple also noted that competing smartphones experience similar issues with reception, and shared videos on its website showing decreased reception when holding a BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, Samsung Omnia II, and even the iPhone 3GS.

For all the noise around it, the so-called "antennagate" didn't prove to be much of an issue for consumers. Apple eventually removed its website created in response to the controversy, and ended its free case program. The iPhone 4 went on to become Apple's best selling smartphone in the company's history, achieving a record 20.34 million sales last quarter alone.

With "antennagate" now well behind it, Apple has introduced a tweaked antenna on its iPhone 4S handset -- a modified, multifunctional design that promises better reception and even faster data transfer speeds.

An 'intelligent' antenna

In its promotional materials, Apple has stated that the iPhone 4S is "the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to transmit and receive, so call quality is better." However, the company has not gone into great detail to explain exactly how the dual-antenna system works.

In his review of the iPhone 4S, Jim Dalrymple of The Loop noted that the dual-antenna design is exclusive to Apple, and in his experience it boosted signal not only on calls, but also general reception.

"To be perfectly clear -- this is an Apple-only technology," he wrote. "While other companies can receive on dual antennas, no other company can transmit and receive on dual GSM and CDMA antennas."

Scpencer Webb, CEO of antenna design firm AntennaSys, told Gizmodo that he thinks that Apple may have come up with a unique algorithm for distributing antenna signals for the iPhone 4S. With this, Apple could implement a selective processing method where the handset would choose the better signal offered by the phone's two antennas, all while meeting radio-frequency emission requirements from the Federal Communications Commission.

While Apple has promised the new antenna will improve reception and call quality, it won't be a fix-all for network woes. For example, Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal found in his testing on AT&T's network that he still experienced a number of dropped calls. However, a colleague testing identical iPhone 4S hardware on Verizon's network experienced no such problems.

But Edward Baig of USA Today said he din't experience any dropped calls in his testing of the iPhone 4S on AT&T's network. He described call quality with the iPhone 4S as "generally quite good."

HSDPA speeds, world phone for GSM roaming

Improvements to the iPhone 4S antenna don't stop with its proprietary dual-antenna technology. Changes to the design of the phone have also made it HSDPA compatible.

That means that maximum download speeds on an HSDPA GSM network are up to 14.4Mbps. That's double the maximum speed of 7.2Mbps possible with the iPhone 4.

HSDPA speeds can, under the right circumstances, be comparable to some true 4G LTE networks. In his testing of the iPhone 4S, Mossberg said he experienced 4G speeds in areas where AT&T has deployed its HSDPA network.

"In numerous tests at three different locations in the Washington suburbs, I averaged download speeds of nearly 7 megabits per second -- better than in prior tests on Sprint and T-Mobile 4G phones," he wrote.

While 4G-like speeds may be possible in some areas with GSM carriers like AT&T, the upgrade does not apply for customers of CDMA carriers, like Verizon and Sprint in the U.S. Verizon customers who upgrade from an iPhone 4S, for example, will achieve the same speeds as with the iPhone 4.

Because of this, AT&T is believed to be pushing Apple to add a "4G" indicator to the iPhone 4S status bar. However, AT&T's HSDPA network is not "true" 4G long-term evolution, or LTE.

Beyond additional speed for some, the new iPhone 4S design and accompanying antenna will allow for more flexibility. The iPhone 4S is a "world phone," which means that both GSM and CDMA customers will be able to roam worldwide on GSM networks.

Previously, if a customer bought the CDMA-only iPhone 4, released on Verizon's network earlier this year, they could not roam outside of the country, such as in Europe where CDMA networks are not common. The inclusion of both GSM and CDMA radios in the iPhone 4S will allow those customers to use their handset worldwide more easily.

For more, see the previous installments of AppleInsider's "Inside Apple's iPhone 4S" series, included below:

"S is for 'There won't be an iPhone 5, for heaven's sake.', that's good enough for me,
S is for 'There won't be an iPhone 5, for heaven's sake.', that's good enough for me,
S is for 'There won't be an iPhone 5, for heaven's sake.', that's good enough for me, oh,

Seriously, there won't be an iPhone 5."

Not quite the ring to it of the original.

So how long before Consumer Reports claims the 4S has the same problem as the 4?

"S is for 'There won't be an iPhone 5, for heaven's sake.', that's good enough for me,
S is for 'There won't be an iPhone 5, for heaven's sake.', that's good enough for me,
S is for 'There won't be an iPhone 5, for heaven's sake.', that's good enough for me, oh,

They improved the processor, camera, memory, signaling chips, the OS, and everything else except the screen. Were all those updates also due to flaws as you appear to be implying the reason for the antenna redesign was.

No there won't because of this, the "5" will have zero meaning. It won't be 5th generation and "5" means nothing in terms of telephony, so why name something iPhone 5?

iPhone = 1st generation
iPhone 3G = 2nd gen., named after the 3G networks it can now use
iPhone 3GS = 3rd gen., "S" said to stand for speed as it was nearly identical to iPhone 3G but considerably faster
iPhone 4 = 4th gen. and named as such
iPhone 4S = 5th gen., near identical exterior design as iPhone 4 but with extensive upgrades inside such as CPU, GPU, BT, Camera, world phone, antennae...

If there is no issue why would they say it has an issue? I don't get it.

They improved the antenna design for a reason.

CR said the Verizon model had same problem and wouldn't recommend it, while other testers reported the Apple had fixed the antenna issue with the CDMA model.

They improved the antenna design because CDMA carriers require receive diversity, where GSM doesn't. So Apple had to improve it with the Verizon iPhone. Now, Apple has brought it GSM with 4S, and even further enhanced it to handle both send & receive diversity.

..... which is worse than the supposedly faulty prior antenna as it is a dirt trapper and ruins the metal sheen. A expensive piece of crap not needed anymore. I'll get a real case this time for protection not to prevent signal loss.

Believe me, over the year that I've had it, I've thought of that. And if I thought it was, I would have returned it long ago. But honestly, I know that my house is in a low signal area. My very old Nokia had a hard time holding a call at the house too. But when I got my original iPhone, I was so happy that I could finally make and hold calls while walking all over my house. By the time I got my 3GS, I didn't even thing about it anymore, just expected it. When the 4 came out, I held off for a few months trying to decide if the antennae problem was just overblown. And I do think it is overblown. But then I got my 4. Coming home from the Apple store, as I was walking into my house from my garage, I got my first call! I said "Hello" and my friend said "Hey, how are....." <beep><beep> and then the Call Failed message. Since then I have been able to successfully hold a call only if I'm upstairs in my loft. I can't move from there or the call drops.

I still think everything else about the phone is wonderful and luckily, I don't have this call problem in other areas. AT&T has great coverage everywhere I go in south Florida, (except at my house, apparently). For this reason, I think that the 4's antennae has a real problem (meaning worse than the original or 3GS) with low signal areas.

If there is no issue why would they say it has an issue? I don't get it.

Because some folks here believe that if anyone says anything negative about anything related to Apple, they must be part of the grand conspiracy being run by Microsoft and Google to discredit Apple and make them look bad.

Apple makes great products. Some of the best products I've ever had the pleasure of owning. But they aren't perfect. Nobody's products are perfect. Some folks can't accept that fact.

No there won't because of this, the "5" will have zero meaning. It won't be 5th generation and "5" means nothing in terms of telephony, so why name something iPhone 5?

iPhone = 1st generation
iPhone 3G = 2nd gen., named after the 3G networks it can now use
iPhone 3GS = 3rd gen., "S" said to stand for speed as it was nearly identical to iPhone 3G but considerably faster
iPhone 4 = 4th gen. and named as such
iPhone 4S = 5th gen., near identical exterior design as iPhone 4 but with extensive upgrades inside such as CPU, GPU, BT, Camera, world phone, antennae...

So the 6th generation iPhone that will have an A6 processor and ship with iOS 6 will be called the iPhone 5.

This is your belief. This.

Love the DRAMA, boys. Just LOVE IT!
But the way I see it it's like this....

The logic above [jmillermcp] is kinda embarrassing (don't you think?)

The difference between the 3g and the 's' was more than speed. Perhaps not as much as the difference between the 4 and 4s, but for anyone who had both the difference was significant. The 3gs is still a usable device.

The 4s is still a 4 (as the name implies) - even with the A5 processor

The next iteration of the iPhone MAY have the A6 processor. It may also have an A5s for all we know. It depends when it is released. As in the previous point the processor has nothing to do with the name of the phone.

We have no idea if the next iPhone will coincide with ios6. It may but ios5 may be around for a while.

It may not be a full year before the next iPhone

I may be wrong but I think the next iPhone will be called the iPhone 5. I don't think Apple necessarily follows the same kind of logic you guys do. No one out there gives a shit what the next processor is nor what iteration the os is. But they do wan't the next iPhone however and my guess is they are all waiting for the 5 and that's what they'll get

I don't think Apple necessarily follows the same kind of logic you guys do.

Sanity? Apple doesn't follow sanity?

Then they should have called the iPhone 4 the iPhone 2. We've never had an iPhone 2, so they should have just randomly given it that name because it being the 4th generation of hardware with an A4 chip running iOS 4 just demands it be called the iPhone 2.

Other than the fact that Apple has never released an iPhone less than a year later than the previous.

The gap between the 4 and 4s was unusual

Quote:

Other than the fact that Apple has never released an iPhone without a new number release of its operating system.

Could be a first time - see above.

Quote:

Quote:

Sanity? Apple doesn't follow sanity?

Then they should have called the iPhone 4 the iPhone 2. We've never had an iPhone 2, so they should have just randomly given it that name because it being the 4th generation of hardware with an A4 chip running iOS 4 just demands it be called the iPhone 2.

If I had to bet real money, I'd put my money on the next iPhone being the iPhone 5. My second choice would be "something without a number." I see no good reason why it would be called iPhone 6. "3G" was a selliing point at the time. iOS6 and A6 processors are completely irrelevant. If either of those factors mattered, the iPhone 4S would have been called the iPhone 5.

My theory is that Apple is in the business of under promising and over delivering. Why would they want to try to convince consumers that the next iPhone "skips a generation" in functionality?

Love the DRAMA, boys. Just LOVE IT!
But the way I see it it's like this....

The logic above [jmillermcp] is kinda embarrassing (don't you think?)

The difference between the 3g and the 's' was more than speed. Perhaps not as much as the difference between the 4 and 4s, but for anyone who had both the difference was significant. The 3gs is still a usable device.

The 4s is still a 4 (as the name implies) - even with the A5 processor

The next iteration of the iPhone MAY have the A6 processor. It may also have an A5s for all we know. It depends when it is released. As in the previous point the processor has nothing to do with the name of the phone.

We have no idea if the next iPhone will coincide with ios6. It may but ios5 may be around for a while.

It may not be a full year before the next iPhone

I may be wrong but I think the next iPhone will be called the iPhone 5. I don't think Apple necessarily follows the same kind of logic you guys do. No one out there gives a shit what the next processor is nor what iteration the os is. But they do wan't the next iPhone however and my guess is they are all waiting for the 5 and that's what they'll get

Embarrassing? Care to discredit any of it? The "S" in 3GS was for speed by Apple's own definition and other than the bump in CPU "speed", faster 3G data "speed" and a slightly larger camera, how would you classify it brainiac? I didn't say the 4S was any other than a 4 with upgraded internals just like the the 3GS wasn't any else than a 3G in exterior design. The 4 is still the iPhone's 4th generation just like the 3GS was the 3rd and the 4S is the 5th.

The only reason "they" are waiting for the 5 is because the iPhone 5 was dreamed up by the media, hyped by the media and then everyone got pissed off when the unicorn didn't appear. Funny how you say Apple doesn't follow the logic I do when it's Apple's historical fact I'm showcasing.

So the 5th generation iPhone that will have an A5 processor and ship with iOS 5 will be called the iPhone 4S.

This is your belief. This

Nice job, you got a smile out of me. Doesn't happen often.

Not my belief, Apple's. I preferred the name 'iPhone 5', but 4S does describe more clearly the transition here.

Just as the 3GS was a COMPLETELY different phone save the case, the 4S is a COMPLETELY different phone… save the case.

We didn't have an iPhone 2. So you'd've been okay with Apple calling the 3GS the iPhone 2? After 3G? That's basically the argument here. I realize the implication of the numbering is slightly different, but it's the same argument.

I see iPhone 4G as a name to be just as valid as iPhone 6 for the next model. I don't see iPhone 5 ever, just as I didn't see iPhone 2 ever happening past the introduction of the 3G name.

The only reason "they" are waiting for the 5 is because the iPhone 5 was dreamed up by the media, hyped by the media and then everyone got pissed off when the unicorn didn't appear. Funny how you say Apple doesn't follow the logic I do when it's Apple's historical fact I'm showcasing.

No, the only reason we are waiting for the 5 is that 5 follows 4.

But Apple will do what Apple does and really, I don't much care. I am guessing the next phone will feature curved glass and be much lighter than the 4s. Thinness and size matters less now IMO.

So the 5th generation iPhone that will have an A5 processor and ship with iOS 5 will be called the iPhone 4S.

This is your belief. This

You always try to make people feel like idiots so I thought I'd return the favor.

Point well made. TS likes to belittle people though I am not easily belittled. He usually has good points but it is his (shared by many others here) absolute certainty that they are right that let's him down. Everybody knows nobody knows. But the brinkmanship can be entertaining untill it gets boring.